Henriette Vamberg, Partner, Managing Director,
Team Lead Strategies, Gehl Architects, Denmark'People First Design'
Henriette leads the work focused on city transformations at Gehl Architects. Since starting at Gehl in 2000 she has worked with a number of public and private clients and has led many of the major projects that have been developed at Gehl.

This work has brought her to different destinations in Europe, the USA, Russia, India, Australia and New Zealand. Henriette graduated from Jan Gehl’s Urban Design Department. His methodology and knowledge are deeply embedded in Henriette’s approach, which is constantly evolving through the variety of projects which Gehl undertakes.

Henriette is passionate about Jan Gehl’s ideas and theories and works to promote ‘Cities for People’ by constantly developing and influencing the way we understand cities and how we can improve them for the people who spend their lives in them.

Henriette’s work has primarily been focused on developing strategies which transform cities from being traffic dominated and with low levels of livability, to cities that thrive and benefit from their existing potential.

As
internet technologies disrupt the traditional retail function of many towns and
cities Cathy will share her analysis of half a billion shopper movements in the
UK. Her research demonstrates that some UK locations are adapting and showing
they can still be relevant to a changing catchment. In addition Cathy will also
present the findings of High Street UK2020 which identified the 25 factors that
are not only most likely to influence the future performance of any town or
city centre, but also, and most importantly, are within the power of local
action.

If we want the places and spaces in our towns and cities to work more effectively as places to connect - for work, for commerce, for creativity, for leisure and culture - then the places and spaces themselves have to be connected - to ideas, data and knowledge, to other people, to government, to investors.

Darren Scott, Chief Digital Officer, Digital Transformation Cisco ANZ, with extensive global experience in smart cities over the last 12 years, will share the latest global insights around the smart city debate and share practical ideas that city leaders can use to make their city and community more connected, more empathetic, more engaging and effective.

Darren is a business and technology executive with extensive experience in developing business programs, and strategies in the Asia Pacific Japan and Greater China region. He has developed and launched IT operations, business solutions, and consulting services to capitalize on major market opportunities.

Darren is responsible for developing and executing Cisco's Digital Growth Strategy, in key target verticals and accelerating our Industry and emerging solutions to market. He leads a strong team of experienced business leaders and technology consultants, who work with Cisco’s top customers on their Digital Transformation Journey.

He has also held positions in Cisco as Managing Director, Consulting Services business for Australia and New Zealand in the field of Smart Cities, Security and Digital Workforce.

From 2009-2012 he established the “Globalisation” function of Cisco’s Technical Services in India to create a second global headquarters. He defined innovative support models for Cisco’s push into Smart + Connected Communities, defined the emerging market talent strategy and established a world-class services innovation program to speed innovation and time to market.

Prior to this role, Darren held leadership positions in Cisco’s management consulting practice in Asia, Cisco’s IT department in both Australia and San Jose. His early career included roles at Telstra and the Department of Defense in Australia.

Professor Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability,

Curtin University

sponsored by:

'Future Cities and Sustainable Transport'

Trends in global cities to reduce car use and its explanation in terms of urban fabric theory.

Peter Newman is the
Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University. He has written 16 books and
over 300 papers. His books include ‘The End of Automobile Dependence’ (2015),
‘Green Urbanism in Asia’ (2013) and 'Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming
Automobile Dependence' which was launched in the White House in 1999. Peter was
a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the University of Virginia Charlottesville and
was on the IPCC for their 5th Assessment Report.

In 2014 he was
awarded an Order of Australia for his contributions to urban design and
sustainable transport. He
is a Fellow of the Academy of Technological and Engineering Sciences Australia.

Peter has worked in local government as an
elected councillor, in state government as an advisor to three Premiers and in
the Australian Government on the Board of Infrastructure Australia.

With 18+ years experience in New York, London, Australia and Asia, he is also an industry commentator and speaker (ADMA Forum, Good Design Australia’s Design as Strategy Forum, AIMIA and POPAI events, Talaris and others

With both a Masters in Urban Design and a MBA, Robbie represents a new and distinctive multi-disciplinary voice in the creative industry. His unique skill set brings together strong lateral thinking and analytical skills with profound commercial acumen, ensuring his clients results that are in tune with commercial realities and focused on profit performance.

The focus on AVs to date has been on the impact
on congestion in CBDs. I am interested in exploring that, of course, but also
their impact in city suburban areas, motorways and rural & regional areas.
Some work has been done in the UK, but how does that apply in Australia.

Accepting the above, this may cause us to
consider the role of AVs as freight and rural vehicles. Trials of this is
happening in Europe now and that will impact on cities and on rural areas
(through supply-chains that connect cities to those regional areas)

Irrespective of where we are applying the AVs,
they will only gain acceptance when we can show that they will work seamlessly
(and provide real advantage) with current transport infrastructure, and
potentially mixed with other vehicles. Anthony Johnson in our Perth Office has
done some great work showing how the mixing of AVs and driven vehicles can
definitely work.

There is a great
study that shows what a city will look like with and without AVs in terms of
additional pedestrian space, cycle-ways, parklands etc – very compelling
visually and forms the basis for real challenge for the “more roads” lobby.

Matt is passionate about developing integrated and innovative solutions to urban challenges. Whilst drawing on sound planning principles, these solutions are both deeply people centric and leverage the opportunities offered by digital approaches.

As the Global Urbanisation Expertise Leader at Aurecon, Matt brings a unique understanding of how to leverage the connections between economics, infrastructure, environmental and social condition and governance, and then reflect this in a comprehensive and enduring regional and urban planning solution. Matt is an experienced strategic planner with over 25 years of experience in Australia, Asia and Africa. Matt has applied his expertise in many cities around the world and to projects involving precinct and city revitalisation, port redevelopment, green and brownfield airport development, transport infrastructure implementation, power and industrial developments through to water supply, electricity distribution, health and waste facilities. Matt also currently holds the position of Advisory Leader (ANZ) at Aurecon.

Matt has worked in developed and developing parts of the world and is able to bring solutions learned in each of these to new challenges. He works to support public and private institutions wishing to address the complex challenges and opportunities associated with the influx of people into our cities.

Matt’s expertise is well recognised and he has acted as an expert witness in various environmental and planning matters and is in demand as a speaker.

Richard Leonard, Director, Hayball Architects

'Future Schools for the Communities of the Future'

Richard has extensive architectural experience in Australia and the United Kingdom. He is at the forefront of designing contemporary teaching and learning settings and leads education projects at Hayball.

Active in the education sector for more than 30 years, Richard is internationally recognised as an expert in helping schools integrate modern education philosophies into the design of new educational facilities. Providing design leadership to support a student-centric model of learning, he is a strong advocate for a collaborative and research-driven design process, and regularly collaborates with leading education specialists including Associate Professor Peter Jamieson, Mary Featherston and Dr Julia Atkin.

Richard is the current Chair of Learning Environments Australasia (formerly CEFPI) and has strong connections with the Victorian Department of Education, Boyd Foundation Learning Spaces initiative, Learning Environments applied Research Network (LEaRN) and the University of Melbourne where he is an Honorary Fellow and linkage partner in several research initiatives. He is a sought after conference presenter and regularly participates in industry seminars and events.